


They don't know (they don't know about us)

by mysonny (orphan_account)



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22724092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/mysonny
Summary: Emily and Lindsey haven't told their friends about their relationship. Still, they all find out in different ways.
Relationships: Lindsey Horan/Emily Sonnett
Comments: 13
Kudos: 134





	They don't know (they don't know about us)

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting on my laptop for weeks. I finally got around to post it. 
> 
> English isn't my first language, excuse any mistakes.

**Tobin**

They all got to take some well-deserved time off after the World Cup. But being back in Portland now, in their routine, was welcomed by Tobin. She obviously enjoyed the World Cup and France in general but going back to normal was nice. The team, the city, her apartment, were just how she left all of it and it was nice to take a breath after all the craziness.

After a while Tobin started to notice some change around her. Change in Lindsey’s and Emily’s behavior specifically. For as long as she has known them they’ve been attached at the hip. Now it weirdly seems more and less at the same time. They always arrive together at practice, which isn’t totally new but it seems unusual often now. In contrast to that Lindsey seems to spend more time with Caitlin and Ellie without Sonnett.

Tobin doesn’t really care about social media but she does see Lindsey post about arriving with the two Australians at their game together. With a noticeable absence of one Emily Sonnett.

-

For a couple of weeks, she doesn’t know what to make of this more and less spending time together and starts to wonder if her friends are in some sort of fight. Which doesn’t make sense. Tobin starts to pay more attention to them. She is concerned that something might be up and looks out for signs. She doesn’t know what signs she was expecting but what she finds wasn’t it.

Her friends always make fun of her for being the last to pick up on anything. Apparently, she’s just too chill to be concerned about the happenings around her. She knows that isn’t true, she just doesn’t care for any kind of drama and actively decides to ignore it.

However, she prides herself in being able to read Lindsey very well. Tobin has known Lindsey since the girl was just 18 years old, so she knows all her little quirks, her expressions, and she definitely knows when Lindsey has feelings for someone.

Other people might not see it, but Lindsey is shit at hiding her feelings. It’s small things that give her away to Tobin. Small things that weren’t so apparent a few months prior.

How she automatically drifts to Emily whenever they are in a group-setting.

How she always seems to find a way to be touching Emily when they are next to each other.

How she lets those touches linger.

How she looks at Emily with a small smile for a little longer than necessary after Emily made a funny comment.

How she looks at Emily after making a joke herself, as if she’s looking for the other girl’s approval.

How she beams after getting a soft smile from Emily in those situations.

And when Tobin goes over to Lindsey’s apartment one afternoon and Lindsey opens the door in their training-shorts with a big “16” on them, there is no doubt about Lindsey’s feelings for Emily anymore.

Tobin just can’t read Sonnett the same way. She obviously sees the shared touches and looks between her two friends but isn’t certain they mean the same for Emily as they mean for Lindsey. Then again, Emily always seemed to have a crush on Lindsey.

-

It all comes crashing down when they play in Utah in the beginning of September. Tobin even gets a little hot-headed herself, but Lindsey’s attack against ARod takes the cake. Both of Sonnett’s fouls weren’t at the level Lindsey is at.

Tobin knows it should be a red.

Lindsey knows it should be a red.

The Ref probably knows it should be a red, too.

When she gets back to their locker room Emily is just starting to leave the room.

“What was that? Son, you know better!” Tobin is still fired up over the game and can’t help herself, she talks a little more forceful than necessary. She can see in Emily’s face that she really doesn’t want to have this conversation now.

“Tobs, can you please just let me leave?” Sonnett asks. She sounds tired and done with the day. “I just want to go to the Hotel and forget this game, okay?” Tobin tries to interrupt her

“No, please? Can’t we just talk about it tomorrow? I already got the talk from Mark and I’m sure Sincy has something to say as well. Can you please just let me get to the bus?” she’s almost begging now.

Tobin reluctantly lets Sonnett leave. She notices that she doesn’t even stay to talk to Kelley who waits in front of their door, instead opting for a quick hello and an even quicker goodbye.

-

She takes her time with the shower because she knows Lindsey always takes a longer shower after a particularly bad game. She told the others to leave without them, that Chris would take both her and Lindsey back to the hotel.

“Linds, you know that was stupid, right?” she starts when they are done changing “That should’ve been a red.”

Lindsey, who seemed to have calmed down, is back to looking angry within a second “I won’t let Rodriguez walk all over Em! She said some horrible things, did you even hear her? Who does she think she is to treat her like that?” she almost yells at the end, seriously getting upset.

Tobin watches as Lindsey paces around the room, muttering quietly to herself.

She stops all of a sudden “Hey, you told the others to leave without us, didn’t you? When is Chris coming to take us to the Hotel? I need to get back. Or should I get an Uber?” Lindsey asks as she frantically starts typing on her phone “Don’t worry, I’m getting an Uber. I will be faster that way and you two can enjoy the evening.”

“Lindsey, stop. STOP” Her shout has the desired effect as Lindsey now looks at her “Linds, stop. You don’t need to rush to the Hotel, we’re not done talking. Why are you even stressing about getting back so much? It’s not even that late.”

“But... Emily. She’s all alone in our room…” Lindsey sighs but sits down. Tobin raises an eyebrow at her.

“You want to tell me something?” Lindsey blushes and looks in the other direction.

“Lindsey. Look at me. If you have feelings for Sonnett that’s fine, just don’t let them interfere with your game, alright?” Tobin talks much softer now, knowing the importance of this conversation. “I didn’t act on my feelings for Chris for a long time because I didn’t want them to mess with my game. But not acting on them messed with soccer more than being in a relationship with her. All these unresolved feelings made me very tense. Have you talked to her about your feelings?” Tobin sits down next to her friend to provide comfort if needed.

Lindsey albeit bright red now, starts to laugh.

“What? I’m sure you have feelings for her! This isn’t funny, stop laughing, talk to me.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?” Lindsey smirks at her. Tobin wonders how her mood could change so quickly and how this serious conversation turned into a joke.

“Well, yeah?” she isn’t as confident anymore “You can’t seriously tell me right now you’re in denial about your feelings? I could tell you at least ten different situations when it was obvious that you have feelings for Sonnett. This isn’t something to joke about!” Tobin feels herself getting upset at Lindsey in behalf of Lindsey herself.

Lindsey is still smirking at her. “Tobs. Tobin, stop it. You don’t need to explain my feelings to me. I’m fully aware of them. We both are. Emily is my girlfriend.”

That shuts Tobin up.

“Ooooh, yes, that makes so much more sense.” she chuckles at herself “I’m very happy for you! Why didn’t you tell me? And since when? I was so confused, you seem to be spending more time together but also less?” Lindsey is laughing at Tobin’s uncharacteristical outburst again.

“Since France, like the last night. We didn’t tell anyone yet, it’s only been around a month and a half. We want to figure everything out first. I mean, I guess you know how it is, transitioning from best friends to girlfriends.” Tobin just nods and urges her to go on “So, yeah we’ve been spending more time together but I’ve made sure to post more about my times with Cait and Ellie. Kind of overcompensating, I guess? To not make anyone suspicious about Em’s and my relationship.” She takes a breath “Anyways, we wanted to be sure about everything before we told everyone. Maybe we’d wake up after a couple weeks and it’d be weird, you know?”

“Well, is it? Weird, I mean.” Tobin nudges Lindsey’s shoulder.

“No, it isn’t. It’s the best. She’s so attentive to my feelings and makes me feel like I’m the only person there, even in a crowded room.” Lindsey gushes and smiles softly “And the little things she does for me. Like she cooks me breakfast all the time, she’s learned to poach an egg for me by the way, and she leaves these small notes all over my apartment when she’s there just so I have something to smile about when I finally find them like three days later. And when she wants me to know that she loves me but we’re around people, she’ll tap my shoulder three times, it’s the cutest actually. No, maybe how she cuddles into me when she’s sleeping is cuter…or how she scrunches up her nose when she’s deep in thought...” Lindsey trails off, she looks very smitten now, Tobin can’t help but smile at her friend’s happiness “And you know how I always forget to drink enough water during the day when we’re not at training? So, she brings me a glass of water, refills it, and generally seems to keep track of my drinking habits, she also always leaves me the last bite of everything and does the dishes because she knows I hate it. Tobin, it’s been the best, I feel so cared for and loved.” She’s full-on grinning now “We already spent so much time together before we started dating but now we make sure it’s more alone time and to appreciate the spare time we get. And honestly, I can’t wait to spend more time with her during the off-season, waking up together every day, visiting her family, and mine…”

Tobin hugs her friend “I’m truly happy that you’re happy.” she remembers the initial reason for the conversation “Just maybe make sure to not let your feelings interfere with your job, alright? I know it’s hard, you are a generally protective person and I can only imagine how that is heightened with Sonny - or I guess, I don’t need to imagine, I saw it today.” She winks at Lindsey to show her that she isn’t actually mad.

“When Chris and I got together we promised each other not to mix personal and professional matters. Maybe the two of you should talk about that as well?” Lindsey looks at her with big eyes and nods tentatively.

“Okay, let’s get you back to the Hotel so you can take care of your girl.”

**Sam**

A couple of days later Portland plays against North Carolina. Usually they’re always excited for the games against the other team because they know the fans are in for a competitive game. And there are a lot of national teammates coming over to Portland with the Courage.

This time around the team doesn’t feel ready though. They feel off since the game against Utah. Not having Emily as their center-back with them on the pitch also doesn’t help.

The game is even worse than anticipated when they lose 0-6.

-

Sam knows how it is to have a really bad day and game. She also knows that it often helps the other team to have a _really_ good game which makes matters even worse. She hugs Lindsey quickly, but doesn’t dare to go over to Tobin, who sits on the grass, alone. Sonnett has come on the pitch and greets her. Emily then proceeds to go over to Lindsey and hovers over her. She keeps a little distance but is by her side the whole time until Lindsey goes inside, Sam thinks that it’s a little weird.

Sam watches her going over to Tobin next, trying to cheer her up with a forced high-five.

-

They’ve made plans to go out for dinner tonight. They always try to spend the evening and the next morning together when they are playing each other. Pushing the result in the back of their minds and enjoying some time with friends. Sam’s not sure that’ll work tonight.

Since she doesn’t know if her friends are still up for it, she goes to search for them in the catacombs of their stadium after she has showered. She half-expects them, or at least Lindsey, to be on their way home already.

Contrary to her expectation, Sonnett and Lindsey are waiting for her in the entryway to the parking lot. She sees them standing close to each other from far away.

Lindsey looks utterly defeated and crushed. She appears to be crying as Emily brushes the tears away with her thumbs. The whole interaction seems strangely intimate. Sam almost doesn’t want to interrupt their moment, she feels like she is somehow intruding. She lets the door close behind her with too much force to make her presence known.

They look up and Lindsey wipes her last tears away while Sonnett takes a step back, out of Lindsey’s personal space.

“Are you guys still up for dinner? I’d understand if you don’t want to go though, no hard feelings.” she asks her friends.

Emily goes to answer but gets interrupted by Lindsey “I’m not really hungry right now. I just want to go home. Sonny you should go and have dinner with Sam and Abby though, don’t let me stop you.” Emily just looks at Lindsey and cocks her head. “Are you sure? I can go with you.” Lindsey softly smiles at Sonnett but shakes her head “I’ll be fine, go spend time with our friends.”

Sam has the feeling there was a second, silent, conversation going on that she missed completely. She’s known the girls for years now, sees them more than most of her family but that interaction seemed strange to her. It wasn’t like what she’s used to from them. It seemed kind of too much. Too close. Too coupley. On her way to the restaurant she thinks back to the Utah game that got Portland into this mess. Something seemed off about that, too. She couldn’t put her finger on it then. Now that she thinks about it, she notices that Lindsey’s reaction also seemed to be too much. Too overprotective. Too coupley. Interesting.

-

At dinner, Emily constantly checks her phone. She still appears to be worried about Lindsey and her well-being even while she’s with her other friends and Lindsey clearly is safe at home. When Sam calls her out on being on her phone more than usual, Emily just blushes and puts the phone in her pocket. She doesn’t have a funny comeback or tries to deny the accusation.

Sonnett leaves quite early after she is finished with her food. They do make plans for breakfast before Sam goes back to North Carolina so she lets Sonnett go without being too pushy about it.

-

Sam waits at Emily’s and Lindsey’s favorite café for her two friends the next morning. She gets there so early that she’s even able to score one of the popular and very cozy window nooks. A couple of minutes later, she spots Lindsey’s car before they have even parked. Sam watches them find a parking spot right across the street. Through the half-opened window, she can see them talking. She wonders what is taking them so long when Emily leans over to Lindsey to give her a short kiss before finally exiting the car. She sees Lindsey laughing at something Sonnett said and then shoving Emily by her shoulder before wrapping one arm around the shorter woman pulling Emily into herself quickly.

All the strangely coupley interactions she noticed make much more sense now, Sam quietly smiles to herself.

**Kelley**

For the two October victory tour games, Kelley rooms with Emily. These two games are supposed to be the last two for them as the 23 best friends. Now it’s a little weird, several players are out with injuries and are there just for moral support. And Lindsey even had to stay home because she got a concussion in the last NWSL game so she isn’t there with them to end this era.

Kelley herself is still out because of her ankle and really isn’t feeling the best about it all, she’s not making the progress that she’d want to. Which is why she was very excited to get Sonnett as her roommate. Sonnett is always able to cheer her up and take her mind off things.

However, Kelley can’t help but notice that her friend seems a little subdued as well. Even though she is in her head most of the time she notices that Emily seems to be in her own head just as much. Of course, she tries to mask that with a funny comment or joke but Kelley knows her well enough, something is up.

She also notices that Sonnett is on her phone more than usually. When she arrives in their room the first night, she found her on the phone with someone, wishing them a good night. She thought Sonnett was calling her parents or sister like all of them do all the time.

The calls at night don’t stop though.

When she gets back to the room from hanging out with Alex and Allie the next day, Emily is talking to someone again. She only catches the last couple of sentences of the conversation but she is certain it wasn’t Sonnett’s family on the other end.

The third night is the night before game day so they opted out of doing anything, instead just hanging out in their room together, watching TV.

This time, Emily actually leaves the room to make a call.

If the last two nights didn’t already spark Kelley’s interest, this does it. She’s ready to concentrate on whatever is going on in Sonnett’s life instead of on her ankle.

“Who were you on the phone with just now?” she asks Sonny when she comes back over half an hour later. Sonnett seems to be deep in thought “Hmm? Oh, just Lindsey. You know, since she’s under concussion protocol at home.”

“And you had to leave the room for that? I would’ve liked to talk to her as well, see how the Great Horan is doing!” Emily looks away from her and busies herself with getting her clothes ready for the morning. “How is she then?” Kelley asks.

“Oh, she’s fine. Getting there at least. She is very annoyed that she can’t be here right now and she’s very anxious about the playoffs and if she’ll be ready by then.” Emily rolls her eyes a bit as she sits down on her bed “Which she will be, I know it and she knows it too. I mean, it’s almost three weeks until then. She just gets too much into her head. Most of all she’s really bored though. She isn’t allowed to look at screens for the time being so I try to call her as much as I can to keep her entertained and make sure she hasn’t died of boredom yet.” Usually Emily talks very animated and with her whole body. Kelley notices that she gets too still while talking about Lindsey’s injury. As if something is bothering her about it. She’s also looking everywhere in the room except for her and bites her lips a lot while talking.

“Are you worried about it? Is there something more going on with that concussion that makes it worse?” she anxiously asks Sonnett.

“No, no. Just a normal concussion. She was throwing up the night after, as expected, but since then, it’s been alright.” Sonnett is still not looking at her.

“Why are you so worried then?”

“What? I’m not worried. I mean not more than everyone.”

“Son, you are. You are way more subdued than usually, you try to hide it but I know you. You don’t talk as animated, you have destroyed your lips from all the biting and half of your jokes fall flat. Only the dancing is as bad as ever. Your head is somewhere else and I’m guessing, it’s in Portland. I mean calling her all the time to keep her occupied?” She softens “It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it. But you could. Talk to me about everything, I mean. I hear I’m a great listener.” Kelley winks for good measure, trying to lighten the mood.

For a second she thinks Emily is going to open up but she just lets out a quiet “Thanks” and turns to watch TV.

-

When Kelley gets into their room the next evening, Emily sits on her bed, ready to go to sleep but clearly waiting for her. While she gets ready for bed herself, Kelley hears Sonnett fidgeting in her bed. Suddenly she speaks up “We are dating. That’s why I’m so worried all the time. She’s alone in her apartment with a concussion and I can’t be there.” She almost looks like she is going to cry now. Kelley is by her side in a second.

“Oh, Son. I know, I know.” She gets into bed beside her friend “I hoped you two finally got your shit together. I’m happy you did. I’m guessing this is the first time since you started dating that one of you is injured or sick while the other one is out of town? You don’t really know how to deal with it, do you?”

“No, I don’t know how to help her. Or what to do in general.” She stares at her hands “She’s always so strong and makes me feel so safe. And now she seems so small and I don’t know how to deal with it. I want to make her feel just as safe but I’m not even _there_.” She looks at Kelley with tears in her eyes. “She’s hurting and I feel so helpless.”

Kelley puts her arms around Emily and squeezes her shoulder “Shh, shh, don’t cry. She’s going to be okay. You’re doing everything you can by being there for her as much as possible. You’re just doing your job and that’s what you need to do. In a couple of days, you’ll be home and then she’ll be back on the pitch in no time!”

“Yeah?” Sonnett sniffs. “I just always feel like I could and should be doing more. I want her to feel as good as she possibly can in this situation. And she’s so frustrated. I don’t know how to take the pressure away from her either, she worries about the playoffs a lot, like it’s all her responsibility. It’s just so much right now, you know?” She takes a deep breath which seems so calm her down a bit.

“It’s just, she knows how to calm me down after a bad day or if the pressure gets too much. She knows I need silence first and then after a while I usually need to talk about it. Which, I didn’t even know? I always thought I needed to get my frustration out right away but I’m better when I can calm down first and then talk it out. And then she just wraps me up in her arms and that relaxes me the most. I just wish I could be there for her like that right now and not just call her, you know?”

Kelley nods “I get it. I’ve been in the same situation before. Our job just makes it hard sometimes. But trust me, by calling her and talking to her you make her feel much better. I know you don’t feel like it because you show your love through thoughtful acts and stuff and you can’t do that right now.”

“But enough of this sappy stuff, I want to know how it finally happened! Give me all the details. Okay, maybe not _all_ the details…” Kelley laughs at the incredulous look on Sonnett’s face. But she manages to distract Sonnett from her worries about her girlfriend.

Emily then falls into the story about how Lindsey kissed her first in France on the evening of the final. Just outside of their celebrations while they were taking a breather. How they walked back to the Hotel together and how perfectly their hands had fit together. How she stayed in Lindsey’s room that night, just kissing some more and cuddling and how sleep finally took over after that exhausting day. How Lindsey probably would’ve freaked out the next day if Sonnett wasn’t so calm about it all. She had wanted this to happen for a long time and showed Lindsey just that. How they started to figure it out during those crazy celebrations, cuddling on the plane, making out in New York. How she then visited Lindsey in Denver after spending some time with her own family. That they’ve now been together since mid-July but that it feels much longer to her because they’ve been basically dating for years. She tells Kelley that they wanted to keep it to themselves first, to figure out how to be a couple without anyone weighing in. That Tobin had figured them out almost a month ago and that she wants their friends and families to know how happy she is with Lindsey.

By the end Sonnett is grinning stupidly wide and is just so apparent in love that Kelley almost cries for her friend.

**(Sam,) Rose and Mal**

The first camp with their new coach feels weird. The injured players are there for the first day and then leave so the squad is very different to what they are used to from the World Cup.

Their core group of friends is there though, with the addition of Andi. Since Rose and Lindsey are rooming together, the group spends a lot of time in their room. They all notice how sometimes Emily and Lindsey aren’t there with them and no one seems to know where they are. Sam has an idea but she decided that their friends would tell them about their relationship when they were ready, so she doesn’t tell the others about what she saw back in September.

The more time they spend on their own though, the more Rose and Mal wonder if something is up with them. They have the wildest theories about pranks or being replaced as friends. Of course, none of them come close to what is really going on and Sam would laugh at her friends if it wasn’t so hard to pretend that she doesn’t have a clue either. After the other two spend almost a whole afternoon with their weird ideas, she tells them that they are making things up and blowing them out of proportion.

On their day off, the four of them – Sam, Rose, Mal and Andi – walk back to Rose’s room after having breakfast together. Lindsey and Sonnett are already in the room and they seem to interrupt a heated discussion between their two friends. Lindsey is sitting on her bed with a red face and clenched fists while Emily’s face is equally as red but she is restlessly walking around the room. Both of their eyes are glistening from unshed tears. Emily stops her sentence as soon as everyone else enters the room, hands hanging in the air from gesturing, and turns around with wide eyes.

After staring awkwardly at one another for a couple of seconds, Mal finally speaks up “Is everything okay? Should we leave you alone so you can sort it out?” she is stunned as she looks between her friends. Emily and Lindsey bicker all the time but none of them have ever seen them in an actual fight.

Emily just makes a dismissive gesture, she seems quite done with all of it. Lindsey springs into action at the question. She stands up and says “Mal, come have coffee with me.” It isn’t a question or suggestion, it’s more of a demand, really.

-

Mal almost needs to run to be able to keep up with Lindsey who is stomping down the hallway to the elevator.

“Did you and Sonny have a fight?” she tentatively asks.

“No.” Lindsey shuts her down quickly. “Just a disagreement.”

Mal scoffs “Looked like more than just a little disagreement. Do you want to talk about it?”

“It was nothing.” Lindsey rolls her eyes, trying and failing to seem indifferent “Please just talk about something else. What are your plans for the off-season?” Mal sees right through her friend, she knows the fight was more than she lets on and she can also see that it is affecting her more than she wants to show. She is clearly hurting. She complies to Lindsey’s wish though and starts talking about her plans.

-

Rose starts talking as soon as the door closes behind Mal and Lindsey. “Okay, that was weird. What were you two talking about? And why-“

“Rose, stop.” Sam interrupts her “That is none of our business, Sonny doesn’t have to tell us anything.” She then turns to Emily “If you want to talk though, you can.”

Emily just shakes her head and leaves the room before her tears can start to fall.

-

It takes Sam some time to convince Rose to stay in the room and let her find Sonnett on her own. When she is finally able to leave, Emily is of course nowhere to be seen. If Kelley was still at camp, Sam would know where to look for her but now she just wanders through the hotel, hoping that Sonnett stayed inside and is hiding somewhere.

She finally finds her sitting on the stairs to the rooftop. Sam sits down next to her crying friend, gives her a tissue, and just hugs her for a couple of minutes until Emily has calmed down a bit.

“When Pat and I had our first big fight, it was pretty hard for me to recognize where I was wrong and where he was wrong. It was even harder to figure out how to discuss it without the emotions getting high again. We both had said some things that hurt the other and to overcome that was quite the challenge.” She tells Emily who only raises an eyebrow “But we realized pretty quickly that there are always two sides to each coin. Even if I felt very misunderstood back then, it wasn’t all black and white. I was in the wrong, too. We had to both calm down on our own and then sit down together to have a conversation about the problem and our feelings. It was pretty hard but it was worth it in the end.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Sam can’t believe Emily is still playing dumb “Come on, Son, I know you two are together. And since I only figured it out in September, I guess it hasn’t been that much longer, like you weren’t together at the World Cup. So, I assumed it might have been your first _big_ fight. And you maybe want to talk about it.” She smiles at her gently “Maybe you even need to talk about it. Get it off your chest, it looked pretty intense when we walked in on you.”

At first, it seems as if Emily still wants to keep up the act. Eventually, she caves.

“Yeah, it was our first really big fight.” She sighs. “I think I was too pushy. I wanted to tell you guys about our relationship. Tobin, Christen and Kelley know anyways – and you I guess – and I didn’t, I still don’t, understand the big deal about telling the rest of the team. Or at least Rose and Mal. You guys are some of our best friends and I didn’t want to hide anymore.” She says and becomes visibly upset again. Emily gets lost in her thoughts for a second before continuing. “Linds felt it was too soon, that it might mess with our focus or whatever. I accused her of not caring about our relationship enough which I know was a low-blow and not fair. But I’ve been in relationships that needed to be kept a secret and it always messed us up in the long run. I just want us to be ourselves around you, don’t hide anymore.” Emily starts getting upset again. Her shoulders even begin to shake from crying so hard. Sam furrows her eyebrow, she is very concerned for both of her friends. That fight sounds like a fundamental disagreement that could turn out to be very hard to solve.

“I’m just so, I don’t know, sad, I guess? I don’t understand her reasoning and it hurts so much. I thought we were on the same page.” Emily gets out between hiccups. She collapses into Sam’s side and latches onto her, desperate for comfort.

“Oh, Em. This doesn’t mean that you guys aren’t still on the same page. You just need to sit down and make each other understand your point of view.” Sam then has a thought “You are her first girlfriend, right? It’s probably all very new to her. Tell her that it hurts you and how it looks to you, I’m sure she’s hurting as well and probably insecure about being with a woman. Her last relationship also didn’t end well, that could play into it as well.” She shifts their weight so that she can look at Sonnett before she continues. “And I don’t want to say she is right in this situation but her outlook on things is probably different because of this, you know? I’m sure she’s going to be okay with your closest friends knowing if you talk about it with her and make her understand that you don’t want to pressure her into coming out to the world or whatever.” Emily nods fiercely “Exactly, I just want us to be comfortable and open around our friends.” After all the crying and fighting Emily is quite exhausted so she leans her head on Sam’s shoulder and closes her eyes for a second, thinking everything through.

Sam hears a sound and looks up to see Lindsey standing in the door to the stairs, looking at them sadly. Sam can see that seeing Emily so distressed hurts Lindsey. She stands in the door for a while, seemingly gathering the courage to come over and finding the right words to say.

Sam smiles at her and nods. She lightly taps Sonnett on the shoulder to get her to move and stands up. When she passes Lindsey, she squeezes her hand to show her support and then leaves the couple alone.

Before the door closes behind her, she hears Lindsey apologizing.

-

Hours later Sam, Mal, and Rose are once again hanging out in Rose’s and Lindsey’s room. Andi had left them to call her fiancé and they are just aimlessly watching TV and talking. Rose had wanted to continue with their next choreography but that didn’t work without Sonnett there to help her.

Lindsey and Emily soon join them, seemingly better than a couple of hours prior. Mal and Rose are both too nervous about getting shut down again to ask about what had happened earlier that day. Sam is glad about that, the couple had enough on their plates today, they don’t need overly nosy friends on top of that. She does notice them sitting very close together and Lindsey absentmindedly stroking Sonnett’s back, obviously wanting to be close to her girlfriend. This isn’t unusual for them so she figures it won’t get noticed by Mal and Rose. They are in the midst of talking about the upcoming game against Costa Rica, when she notices Lindsey tensing up. While she is still wondering what that could be about, Lindsey starts to talk.

“Em and I are dating.” Mal’s and Rose’s eyes get comically wide as they’re forgetting what they were just talking about. Emily snorts at her friends and her girlfriend.

“Way to go Linds. When we said, we’d tell them when you’re ready, I thought we might ease them into it? This was very abrupt.” She seems to be very happy with this development since the morning though, grinning widely at Lindsey, eyes shining with pride.

Lindsey blushes and ducks her head “Shut up! I just had to say something right now.”

Emily hums and kisses Lindsey on the cheek. The kiss is what brings Mal and Rose out of their stupor. Wide smiles spread on both their faces, Mal even starts to jump up and down in her seat a little, clapping her hands.

“You guys! This is great, we’ve waited for this. Finally! I’m so happy!”

“I’m glad you got it all sorted out. I see the talk helped.” Sam sends a wink in Sonnett’s direction but it’s Lindsey who answers.

“Yeah, thanks for taking care of her by the way. And guys, we’re sorry for making you all uncomfortable earlier with our fight.” She looks sheepishly at her friends and Emily is quick to nod her head to back Lindsey up in her apology.

“Wait. Sam did you already know?? Guys, you told her before us?” Rose turns to them with a offended expression on her face.

“No, they didn’t. I found out on my own two months ago.” Sam interjects “And before you ask, I decided not to tell the two of you because it’s none of our business, I wasn’t going to out them.” She raises her hands defensively.

“Thanks for that, Sam. We or rather I wasn’t ready for anyone to know back then. That’s actually what our fight was about. Em wanted to tell the three – or I guess two – of you and I blew it out of proportion. My head went totally overboard, I thought she wanted to tell the whole team and everyone else and then the public and I totally spun out of control with that. But I didn’t let her explain that she only meant that it would be nice to tell our closest friends.”

“It’s all good now though” Emily chimes in and smiles at Lindsey “We talked it out, I explained what I meant and she explained where her head went and we realized that we are on the same page and that the whole fight was absolutely unnecessary. We also don’t want to drag you guys in any fight with us like we did today in making you split up.” She looks at each of them directly to make her point clear “That isn’t fair on our end.”

“It’s all good, all good.” Rose rushes them, her head being already steps ahead “I have so many questions, that are much more important than this. Who made the first move? And when did it happen? Did you freak out? Sam, when did you find out?”

“Yeah, Sam, when and how did you find out? I’d like to know that as well.” Sonnett turns to Sam.

“I saw you guys kissing when we played in Portland. Before breakfast the morning after the game. But your behavior was already suspicious before that. I mean, Lindsey, getting a yellow card for shoving someone because they yelled at your supposed best friend? Not very subtle! Also, Son, staying by her side after that loss like she could either break or explode any second and then checking your phone constantly because she might’ve texted you when you were out with us? Not very good at hiding your feelings.” She laughs at their bright red faces.

Lindsey scratches her neck “Tobin actually called me out on that card as well. I told her about our relationship then because she cornered me and made me talk after the game.”

Rose’s eyes widen at that “Tobin’s known this entire time??”

Emily decides to make things worse “Kelley actually knows, too, I told her last camp when we were roommates. She called me out on worrying about Linds too much, like Sam just did as well.”

“What? Guys... are we the last ones to know?” Rose seems actually hurt by now.

Emily just rolls her eyes. “Our parents don’t even know yet. I obviously told Emma but you guys are literally the first people we sat down and told. Don’t be butthurt.”

“Rose, calm down. They told us now, didn’t they?” Mal chimes in. “But I want to know the entire story as well!”

Lindsey starts to tell their story with Emily adding her own bits and pieces. They all notice that both of them seem to be more at ease with them than they’ve been this entire camp, more open and not afraid to show affection to one another. Lindsey takes Emily’s hand at some point during the story and doesn’t let go of it, stroking the back of it with her thumb. They know their friends have always been affectionate with each other but now they notice that both obviously have been holding back during camp to not give their relationship away. Feeling freer now, Emily and Lindsey always maintain some sort of physical touch, share soft smiles or short pecks, and look at each other with so much love, no one could miss their connection.

**Author's Note:**

> I had ideas for their parents, the Aussies, the rest of the team. But gotta end it somewhere, don't I? Hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
